Research@THEA (Technological Higher Education Association)
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Discussion Forums: Using The PHdd Strategy
Get PDF‘PHdd’ (Post, Harvest, display & discuss) is an advanced version of the more frequently used ‘forum post’ with two additional
layers that embed learning through a summary display of key ideas posted, followed by an opportunity to discuss them in a
subsequent learning episode. The strategy promotes critical thinking, analysis and evaluation.
Summary of Teaching & Learning Context
Participants are invited to respond to a learning trigger such
as a question and post their response to the ‘discussion
forum’ function in Moodle (or chosen VLE). A word limit can
be set as desired. Participants can also be encouraged to
respond to the posts of other students. Following a specified
period of time (a week), the module leader or nominated
student(s) collate a brief summary of key perspectives raised
in the discussion thread (harvesting). These perspectives are
then presented in a learning episode (tutorial, workshop or
integrated into a lecture). The module leader then facilitates
a group discussion based on the summary of ideas harvested
from the discussion
Attitudes And Approaches To Sustainable Coastal Adventure Tourism /
Get PDFThis study explores the attitudes and approaches of adventure tourism providers towards
sustainable practices and coastal preservation. It evaluates existing guidelines on sustainability
for adventure tourism businesses, explores current obstacles observed by adventure tourism
businesses regarding their operations, and includes their perception on responsibility regarding
the environment. The study further discusses what measures are being used or may perhaps be
implemented to minimise erosion caused by adventure tourism and how this would impact
business practices.
The study additionally includes the opinions and attitudes of tourists, who have undertaken
adventure tourism activities along the Irish coastlines, regarding coastal erosion. It examines
the tourists' evaluation of the problem of erosion and their willingness to change behaviour and
spending habits for a more sustainable adventure experience with the Irish tourism field. The
above aims were addressed through research on existing published literature based on
international examples but likewise reviewed domestic literature, focusing on Irish
circumstances, climate, and business practices. The primary research was carried out through
online based questionnaires for both businesses and tourists, and in-depth one on one phone
interviews, providing a comprehensive overview of the attitudes of adventure business
providers.
The primary research displayed the lack of environmental regulations through governmental
institutions and lack of involvement by both business owners and tourists throughout the
adventure tourism industry in Ireland, as well as an absence of awareness of the effects of
coastal erosion. Many of the already limited number of sustainable certifications in place, are
not credible qualifications and not being used by many adventure tourism businesses.
Furthermore, coastal area infrastructures, as well as marketing are not considering the host
communities and future sustainable development.
The conclusion chapter of this thesis presents recommendations, including a framework for
businesses and recommendations for tourists, for more sustainable conduct in the coastal
environment.n
EJNI Briefing Paper November 2022
Get PDFIn response to the ever-worsening climate and biodiversity crises, that have seen widespread disruptive weather events and environmental degradation on an unprecedented scale, as well as producing tens of millions of “climate refugees”, the EU developed a new environmental policy “The EU Green Deal”. The EU Green Deal” (2019) set the ambitious target of making Europe the first climate neutral continent by 2050, and to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030, in order to meet their NDC’s under the Paris Agreement. A key element of this is the “Fit for 55” work package (July 2021) legislative proposals. This is the most comprehensive revision of the EU environment and climate acquis in the history of the EU. It represents an unprecedented opportunity to bring the EU into compliance with its international law obligations, and secure the effectiveness of EU environmental law, by introducing environmental “access rights” into the legislative proposals. Environmental “Access Rights” is the collective term for rights such as access to justice, public participation and access to information required by international law, the Aarhus Convention
Research Students in Higher Education Globally
Get PDFThis policy paper has reviewed various aspects of higher education research, specifically the research
student involved in it at the entry level, i.e. postgraduates, doctorate students, and early career
researchers. The aim of this policy paper is to analyze, evaluate and put forward a summary and
recommendations regarding a number of systematic problems and inequalities faced by research
students across the world today, with the hope of providing clear solutions to these.
This policy paper addresses the issues of research students in higher education by studying various
important stages of the research process through which they pass, and proposes ideas to improve
and enhance the processes - from hiring of a research student or researcher to their mental well-being -
to name a few examples.
This paper presents comprehensive recommendations and suggestions for the improvement of the same
based on three key sites of researchers’ and research students’ journey to degree and post-degree skill
development: the research student experience; the research student process; and the professional
development of the research student journey.ye
Evaluating performance of commercial automatic speech recognition systems for speakers with dysarthria
Get PDFDysarthria refers to motor neuron speech disorders that
limit the ability to control muscle groups used for speech
production. Dysarthric speech has reduced intelligibility
due to being slurry, breathy and slow compared to
typical speech. The modern advancements of automatic
speech recognition (ASR) and the increase of speechcontrolled systems raise the question on their
inclusiveness for speakers with dysarthria.
METHOD
RESULTS
DISCUSSIONAcknowledgement
This study was funded by AIT Presidents Doctoral
Scholarship
This study evaluated the performance of two popular
commercial ASR systems with dysarthric speech and
compared the performance with state-of-the-art
dysarthric speech ASR systems
Menstrual dysfunction in athletes: a systematic literature review
Get PDFMenstrual dysfunction (MD) is typically presented as one
or more of abnormalities associated with the cycle
regularity, duration, flow and pain1
MD in athletes is largely a physiological manifestation
of low energy availability, often associated with
stress, weight loss and/or excessive exercise2
All forms of MD can have adverse implications on
athletes’ health, injury risk and performance3
However, there is currently no published systematic
review that provides a comprehensive review of the
literature pertaining to MD in female athlete
Effectiveness of front line and emerging fungal disease prevention and control interventions and opportunities to address appropriate eco-sustainable solutions
No full textFungal pathogens contribute to significant disease burden globally; however, the fact that fungi are eukaryotes has greatly complicated their role in fungal-mediated infections and alleviation. Antifungal drugs are often toxic to host cells and there is increasing evidence of adaptive resistance in animals and humans. Existing fungal diagnostic and treatment regimens have limitations that has contributed to the alarming high mortality rates and prolonged morbidity seen in immunocompromised cohorts caused by opportunistic invasive infections as evidenced during HIV and COVID-19 pandemics. There is a need to develop real-time monitoring and diagnostic methods for fungal pathogens and to create a greater awareness as to the contribution of fungal pathogens in disease causation. Greater information is required on the appropriate selection and dose of antifungal drugs including factors governing resistance where there is commensurate need to discover more appropriate and effective solutions. Popular azole fungal drugs are widely detected in surface water and sediment due to incomplete removal in wastewater treatment plants where they are resistant to microbial degradation and may cause toxic effects on aquatic organisms such as algae and fish. UV has limited effectiveness in destruction of anti-fungal drugs where there is increased interest in the combination approaches such as novel use of pulsed-plasma gas-discharge technologies for environmental waste management. There is growing interest in developing alternative and complementary green eco-biocides and disinfection innovation. Fungi present challenges for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of reusable medical devices such as endoscopes where they (example, Aspergillus and Candida species) can be protected when harboured in build-up biofilm from lethal processing. Information on the efficacy of established disinfection and sterilization technologies to address fungal pathogens including bottleneck areas that present high risk to patients is lacking. There is a need to address risk mitigation and modelling to inform efficacy of appropriate intervention technologies that must consider all contributing factors where there is potential to adopt digital technologies to enable real-time analysis of big data, such as use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. International consensus on standardised protocols for developing and reporting on appropriate alternative eco-solutions must be reached, particularly in order to address fungi with increasing drug resistance where research and innovation can be enabled using a One Health approach.ye
Impact of a physician-led exercise programme on quality of life, muscle mass and clinical response in inflammatory bowel disease patients during induction with disease-modifying therapy: a study protocol
Get PDFIntroduction Biologic and small-molecule therapies have revolutionised the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A significant proportion of patients experience early or delayed treatment failure. Patients with IBD with greater visceral obesity are less likely to respond to biologics. Sarcopenia has been identified as a predictor of disease severity and need for rescue therapy in acute severe ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a physician-derived exercise programme in patients with IBD commencing biologic or small-molecule therapy in addition to the effect on physical fitness, body composition and objective measures of quality of life, fatigue scores and disease activity.
Methods and analysis This is a randomised controlled feasibility study comparing the effects of a physician-derived exercise programme and standard medical care (biologic/small-molecule therapy) with standard care alone in patients with moderate to severe IBD. Patients with IBD in the intervention group will undergo a structured exercise programme for 20 weeks. Both IBD groups will carry out body composition, disease activity and quality-of-life assessments at baseline, week 12 and week 26. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility of the physician-derived exercise programme in patients with IBD commencing disease-modifying therapies. Secondary endpoints include a change in cardiorespiratory fitness, disease activity/inflammation, fatigue, health-related quality of life outcomes and body composition between the two IBD groups. Exploratory endpoints include validation of anterior thigh ultrasound for sarcopenia screening, assessment of proinflammatory cytokines and markers of immunometabolism.
Ethics and dissemination This study has received ethical approval from the Beaumont Hospital Ethics committee on 22 October 2021 (reference number 21/21). Data generated or analysed during this study will be published as an article and supplementary appendix in relevant medical journals. The data will also be presented at national and international conferences.ye
Characterization of gels and films produced from Pinhão seed coat nanocellulose as a potential use for wound healing dressings and screening of Its compounds towards antitumour effects
Get PDFThe reuse of agro-industrial waste assumes great importance today. Pinhão is the seed of
Araucaria angustifolia, which is native to the mountains of southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.
The coat is a by-product of this seed and is rich in phenolic compounds. The present study aimed to
use the residue as a precursor material for the production of nanocellulose through the mechanical
defibrillation process and perform the characterization of the films and the gel to investigate the effect
on the physical and regenerative properties when incorporated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The
modulus of elasticity was higher when the MFC of pinhão was added to the PVA. Film and gel had
their cytotoxicity tested by MTT assay using 3T3 fibroblast and Schwann cancer cells, and a migration
assay was also performed using the scratch test on HaCat keratinocyte cells. For the scratch test,
film and gel samples with low concentration presented a complete scratch closure in 72 h. Molecular
docking was performed and quercetin had the ideal interaction score values, so it was used with
the PACAP protein which presented a slightly moderate interaction with the protein synthesis of
Schwann cells, presenting compactness of the compound after 14 ns.ye
Oblique Detonation Wave Control with O3 and H2O2 Sensitization in Hypersonic Flow
No full textThis numerical study investigates the effects of adding a small amount of ignition promoters for controlling the wedge-induced oblique shock wave (OSW) to oblique detonation wave (ODW) transition in a premixed hydrogen–air mixture at hypersonic speeds. The time-dependent two-dimensional compressible Euler equations for multiple thermally perfect species with a reactive source term are solved using adaptive mesh refinement and detailed chemical kinetics. The wedge with a fixed angle of 26° exhibits abrupt to smooth transitions for freestream Mach numbers 7–9 (speeds 2.8–3.2 km/s) at a pressure of 20 kPa and a temperature of 300 K. The small amount (1000 PPM by vol.) of H2O2 and O3 is found to be effective at significantly reducing the initiation length for the oblique detonation transition for all Mach numbers, which suggests a practical approach to increase the operating flight range for oblique detonation wave engine with a finite length wedge. At Mach number 8, the abrupt OSW to ODW transition turns towards a smooth transition with a small amount of H2O2 and O3 addition. Comparatively, O3 addition was found to be effective in reducing the ODW initiation length by promoting reactivity behind even a weaker oblique shock at low Mach number 7, for abrupt transition, while H2O2 addition was more effective than O3 at high Mach numbers 8 and 9, during a smooth transition. The maximum 73% and 80% reduction in initiation length of ODW was observed with 10,000 PPM H2O2 and O3 addition, respectively, during an abrupt OSW to ODW transition at Mach 7.ye